Carsington Bird Club

Tittesworth – Winter 2011

Welcome to the 35th quarterly newsletter in the current series.

 Weather

OCTOBER: The month began with a southerly air stream resulting in some exceptionally high temperatures for the time of year. Locally it was 20ºC on the 2nd. The rest of the month was generally mild but the first frost of the winter period occurred overnight on the 17-18th. The day temperature then dropped to 7ºC but picked up again on the 21st. It was sunny most days until the end of the month.  The mean temperature for England was 2ºC above the 1971-2000 average. Rainfall was heavy locally………………

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Carsington Bird Club

Birding in Valencia, Spain (update)

A Pre-Christmas Trip up onto the Steppe

It´s always a privilege to be asked to provide guest posts and it is with gratitude that I write this.  I hope that it´s of interest.

An important role of mine as a birding guide is to constantly visit my favoured sites as many times as possible throughout the year.  This is essential in order to maintain and develop knowledge of an area and it´s changing characteristics and bird life throughout the seasons.  That way, we ensure that our clients are taken to the sites that are “at their best” whenever their visit may take place.  That today´s trip meant that I avoided having to go Christmas shopping only seemed to reinforce its value!

Our destination was the vast upland Steppe of Castilla de la Mancha, some 90 minutes’ drive due west from our home base of La Drova.  This is an area for which I have real affection.  It´s a tough place to live and work, as the majority of this land is situated at over 900 metres above sea level.  The summers are relatively short but fiercely hot whilst the winters can be savage, with nights of -20oC not unheard of.  The locals work mainly on the land, most of which is used for cereal farming although recently there´s been new developments of vine-yards.  It´s a tough life up there and the farming villages seem untouched by the passage of time, but despite their remoteness, the locals are surprisingly welcoming and friendly.

 

 

It´s fair to say that you have to work for your birds and be prepared to move around in search of them.  However, with effort, some local knowledge and a little luck, the area can provide some memorable days and great birding.  It´s a place of surprises and each visit turns up something new, like a Red Kite or flocks of “on-passage” Dotterel.

To make the most of the day we left home at 7am on a dark and windy morning.  We were however rewarded for our efforts by views of a fox that we caught in the headlights as we drove through a local wooded area.  We stopped and watched as he turned and looked straight at us before running up the hill into the trees.

Having driven through a beautiful day-break we left the main Valencia – Albacete road and headed out across the steppe.  The morning provided a good omen from the outset as we immediately spotted a group of 23 Great Bustards strutting across the fields just 200 metres from the road.  Having parked the van, we left the warm cab to be greeted by a bitterly cold wind that made it feel close to freezing point…welcome to Castilla de la Mancha – it´s not always warm in Spain!  Despite this we enjoyed superb views of these majestic birds for over 10 minutes before they took flight across the plains.

Our next stop was a favourite lagoon.  This time prepared for the wind, we strategically parked the van so we could use it as a shelter as we set up the scopes!  The usual busy flocks of Rock Sparrow were flitting around as were Goldfinch.  A lone Fieldfare made a brief appearance, followed closely by a female Black Redstart.

Crested Larks and Lapwings were around in good numbers too.  On the shore of the lagoon a Little Ringed Plover scurried around.  Scoping across the water revealed Shoveler, Shelduck and Teal.  As we stood there, proving that awful instant soup can taste heavenly when out in the freezing cold, a Buzzard passed over and landed in the edge of a nearby field.  Then another highlight – a pair of Hen Harriers appeared over the hill and flew characteristically low over the fields, giving superb views.  After a while we retreated to the van and headed on to our next lagoon where we watched Teal, Little Grebe, Pochard, and yet more Shelduck and Shoveler.  A pair of Yellow Legged Gulls flew by before settling on the water.  A flock of Spotless Starlings landed on one of the barns and Skylarks were also around in good numbers.

After a welcome coffee break in a village bar we set off across the steppe once more where we made various stops to scan around.  We were indeed rewarded by the day´s second view of a flock of Great Bustard, probably the same birds as earlier but nonetheless great to see.  Skylarks and Crested Larks were plentiful as were Kestrels.  A Little Egret was feeding by the shore of a small pond and was soon joined by a Cattle Egret.  A raptor passed over but was too far away to give a positive ID although Booted Eagle was the likelihood.

The third and final lagoon, beside which we sat in the hide gave great views of Kentish Plover, Ruff, Flamingo, Wood Sandpiper and an over-wintering Black Winged Stilt.  Scoping across the water gave views of huge numbers of Shelduck, Shoveler and Teal.  A Marsh Harrier passed by extremely close over the reeds.

Satisfied with a superb day out we headed back across the plains, making a few more brief stops during which we had super views of Stonechat, Green Woodpecker and Iberian Grey Shrike.  As we all know, sometimes you have to brave the weather and put in a little effort, but when you do, the rewards are often fantastic!  With some superb views and a species list of 37, today had been such a day.

I hope you´ve found this post to be of interest, and I wish you all a very Happy Christmas and plenty of great birding in 2012 – don´t forget to look me up if you fancy a trip over here to Valencia.  Feliz Navidad!

David Warrington – Bird Watching Guide.

www.valenciabirding.com

 

 

Carsington Bird Club Member Reports

Cambodia & Vietnam – Nov 2011 – Gary Atkins

8th – 23rd november 2011 – Cambodia and Vietnam – Holiday Report

There’s always something both exciting and frustrating about holidaying somewhere completely different and encountering bird species that are entirely new: exciting because you never quite know what’s around the next corner – and some sightings can be truly spectacular; frustrating because I more often than not cannot be sure enough of its specific identify to list it.

Despite that, my family holiday to south-east Asia in November (accompanied by my wife, son, sister and nephew) still managed to yield a total of almost 60 species, around half of which were ‘lifers’, with another 20 or so being birds I’d seen before but only very rarely … plus a few, like Swallow, Moorhen, Tree Sparrow and Little Grebe that have cropped up several times already on my 2011 list!

In terms of birdwatching, the holiday began brilliantly and went downhill thereafter.  We flew into Siem Riep in Cambodia, via Kuala Lumpur, where we stayed four nights.  The first half of this was spent touring the astonishing ruined complex of Angkor Wat – a city of a million people as long ago as the 11th-12th centuries whenLondon’s population was just approaching 50,000.

This advanced civilisation built some fabulous temples, many of which were adorned with beautifully detailed carvings and script.  Over recent decades, many of these sites have been rediscovered amidst dense forests, where the birdlife was an added bonus during our tours.

My sister (celebrating her 60th birthday) and I had added an extra day in Siem Riep so we could take in a nearby bird sanctuary – Prek Toal, part of the huge Tonle Sap lake that is around 100km long and 30km wide.  We saw 25-30 species on that day alone – possible highlights being Spot-billed Pelicans, Asian Openbills and Grey-headed Fish Eagles among a good array of herons, egrets and cormorants, including the distinctive Darter.

Bird-watching became more of a snatched or very occasional activity during the rest of the tour which took in Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital city, a day or so navigating through the Mekong Delta to Can Tho and, finally, Saigon, the major city in southern Vietnam – a fast-growing metropolis of 10 million people that seems to be a driver’s nightmare, though we were assured the apparent mayhem was normal and that everyone knew ‘the rules’.

We finished the holiday with four days at a beach resort, 200km north east of Saigon.  While initially a blissful respite from the relentless pace of touring and constant early morning get-aways, I eventually concluded this was a mistake – both from the point of view of birdwatching, which was very limited, and in failing to enhance our ‘Asian experience’ since the five-mile strip of hotels, restaurants and impromptu retail outlets could have been anywhere in the world.

Indeed, if you ever go to Indochina – and I would certainly recommend Cambodia (and I gather the pace of life in Laos is equally, if not more ‘relaxed’) – and want to include Vietnam, aim to take in the central highlands and more northern parts, since that is where we were constantly being told the best wildlife is to be found.

As it was, we had good views of Green and Blue-tailed Bee-eaters throughout the region, and other highlights included four species of Kingfisher (Pied, Collared and White-throated as well as Common), raptors such as Brahminy and Black-shouldered Kites, Eastern Marsh Harrier and two Ospreys, colourful ‘firsts’ such as Coppersmith Barbet, Red-breasted Parakeet, Indian Roller, Ashy Drongo and Yellow-vented Bulbul, and the Large-tailed Nightjar (bigger than those we find in Britain) that I virtually tripped over during an early-morning walk from our beach resort.

The remaining ‘cast’ in order of appearance, and not already mentioned, were as follows: Black Drongo, Brown Shrike, Intermediate Egret, Common Myna, Rock Dove, Asian Palm Swift, Grey Heron, Racket-tailed Drongo, Spotted Dove, White-vented Myna, Magpie Robin, Javan Pond Heron, Little Heron, Little Cormorant, Greater Coucal, Pied Fantail, (Great) Cormorant, Indian Cormorant, Whiskered Tern, Red Collared Dove, Great White Heron, Rufous Woodpecker, Spot-billed Duck, Oriental Skylark, Peaceful Dove, Large-billed Crow, Asian Koel, White-rumped Munia, Olive-backed Sunbird, Pacific Swallow, White Wagtail, Plain-backed Sparrow, Scaly-breasted Munia, Oriental Turtle Dove and Paddyfield Pipit.

Gary Atkins – Nov 2011

Carsington Bird Club Events

‘The Osprey Project’ by David Bennett

For those of you who did not come to this meeting, you missed a treat.

David Bennett treated us a to a lovely, relaxed and  informed chat about the STW Osprey Project at Carsington Water, carried out by the Carsington Water Volunteer Rangers.  Full of interesting facts and funny anecdotes, David told the story of how the 2 Osprey platforms came about and how they were financed and built, and also the successes following the erection of the nesting/feeding poles. If you see this talk advertised at any other club/venue, be sure to go, as it is well worth the time spent.

Ed.

Tuesday – 15th November –  Indoor meeting: ‘The Osprey Project’ an illustrated talk by David Bennett, Severn Trent Water – Volunteer Ranger.

Venue:
Hognaston Vill Hall (7.30pm).  Entrance fee £2 members and £2.50 non-members – great value. If you want to join CBC on the night, just ask for one of the Memebership Secretaries, who will be able to help you.  Alternatively print off the “Join CBC” forms and hand it into  a CBC Committee member on the night.

 

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